SpringerLink
Log in

The Role of Geographic and Network Factors in Racial Disparities in HIV Among Young Men Who have Sex with Men: An Egocentric Network Study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
AIDS and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize and compare individual and sexual network characteristics of Black, White, and Latino young men who have sex with men (YMSM) as potential drivers of racial disparities in HIV. Egocentric network interviews were conducted with 175 diverse YMSM who described 837 sex partners within 167 sexual-active egos. Sexual partner alter attributes were summarized by ego. Descriptives of ego demographics, sexual partner demographics, and network characteristics were calculated by race of the ego and compared. No racial differences were found in individual engagement in HIV risk behaviors or concurrent sexual partnership. Racial differences were found in partner characteristics, including female gender, non-gay sexual orientations, older age, and residence in a high HIV prevalence neighborhood. Racial differences in relationship characteristics included type of relationships (i.e., main partner) and strength of relationships. Network characteristics also showed differences, including sexual network density and assortativity by race. Most racial differences were in the direction of effects that would tend to increase HIV incidence among Black YMSM. These data suggest that racial disparities in HIV may be driven and/or maintained by a combination of racial differences in partner characteristics, assortativity by race, and increased sexual network density, rather than differences in individual’s HIV risk behaviors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mustanski B, Newcomb ME, Du Bois SN, Garcia SC, Grov C. HIV in young men who have sex with men: a review of epidemiology, risk and protective factors, and interventions. J Sex Res. 2011;48:218–53.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. CDC. Estimated HIV incidence in the United States, 2007–2010. HIV Surveill Suppl Rep. 2012;17.

  3. Balaji AB, Bowles KE, Le BC, Paz-Bailey G, Oster AM, Group NS. High HIV incidence and prevalence and associated factors among young MSM, 2008. AIDS. 2013;27:269–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Clerkin EM, Newcomb ME, Mustanski B. Unpacking the racial disparity in HIV rates: the effect of race on risky sexual behavior among Black young men who have sex with men (YMSM). J Behav Med. 2011;34:237–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Newcomb ME, Mustanski B. Racial differences in same-race partnering and the effects of sexual partnership characteristics on HIV Risk in MSM: a prospective sexual diary study. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2013;62:329–33.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Newcomb ME, Ryan DT, Garofalo R, Mustanski B. The effects of sexual partnership and relationship characteristics on three sexual risk variables in young men who have sex with men. Arch Sex Behav. 2014;43:61–72.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Garofalo R, Mustanski B, Johnson A, Emerson E. Exploring factors that underlie racial/ethnic disparities in HIV risk among young men who have sex with men. J Urban Health. 2010;87:318–23.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Feldman MB. A critical literature review to identify possible causes of higher rates of HIV infection among young black and Latino men who have sex with men. J Natl Med Assoc. 2010;102:1206–21.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Millett GA, Flores SA, Peterson JL, Bakeman R. Explaining disparities in HIV infection among black and white men who have sex with men: a meta-analysis of HIV risk behaviors. AIDS. 2007;21:2083–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Millett GA, Peterson JL, Flores SA, et al. Comparisons of disparities and risks of HIV infection in black and other men who have sex with men in Canada, UK, and USA: a meta-analysis. Lancet. 2012;380:341–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Millett GA, Peterson JL, Wolitski RJ, Stall R. Greater risk for HIV infection of black men who have sex with men: a critical literature review. Am J Public Health. 2006;96:1007–19.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Amirkhanian YA. Social networks, sexual networks and HIV risk in men who have sex with men. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2014;11(1):81–92.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Sudhinaraset M, Raymond HF, McFarland W. Convergence of HIV prevalence and inter-racial sexual mixing among men who have sex with men, San Francisco, 2004–2011. AIDS Behav. 2013;17:1550–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Potterat JJ. ‘Socio-geographic space’ and sexually transmissible diseases in the 1990s. Today's Life Sci. 1992;4:16-22.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Rothenberg R, Muth SQ. Large-network concepts and small-network characteristics: fixed and variable factors. Sex Transm Dis. 2007;34:604–12.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Morris M, Goodreau SM, Moody J. Sexual networks, concurrency, and STD/HIV. In: Holmes KK, Sparling PF, Stamm WE, et al., editors. Sexually transmitted diseases. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2007. p. 109–25.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Morris M, Kretzschmar M. Concurrent partnerships and the spread of HIV. AIDS. 1997;11:641–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Doherty IA, Minnis A, Auerswald CL, Adimora AA, Padian NS. Concurrent partnerships among adolescents in a Latino community: the mission district of San Francisco, California. Sex Transm Dis. 2007;34:437–43.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Bohl DD, Raymond HF, Arnold M, McFarland W. Concurrent sexual partnerships and racial disparities in HIV infection among men who have sex with men. Sex Transm Infect. 2009;85:367–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Lyons A, Hosking W. Prevalence and correlates of sexual partner concurrency among Australian gay men aged 18–39 years. AIDS Behav. 2013;18(4):801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Garofalo R, Hotton A, Kuhns L, Gratzer B, Mustanski B. Incidence of HIV infection and Sexually Transmitted Infections and related factors among young men who have sex with men. Under Rev. 2014.

  22. Rosenberg ES, Khosropour CM, Sullivan PS. High prevalence of sexual concurrency and concurrent unprotected anal intercourse across racial/ethnic groups among a national, Web-based study of men who have sex with men in the United States. Sex Transm Dis. 2012;39:741–6.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Aral SO. Patterns of sexual mixing: mechanisms for or limits to the spread of STIs? Sex Transm Infect. 2000;76:415–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Anderson RM, Gupta S, Ng W. The significance of sexual partner contact networks for the transmission dynamics of HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 1990;3:417–29.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Raymond HF, McFarland W. Racial mixing and HIV risk among men who have sex with men. AIDS Behav. 2009;13:630–7.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Berry M, Raymond HF, McFarland W. Same race and older partner selection may explain higher HIV prevalence among black men who have sex with men. AIDS. 2007;21:2349–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Bingham TA, Harawa NT, Johnson DF, Secura GM, MacKellar DA, Valleroy LA. The effect of partner characteristics on HIV infection among African American men who have sex with men in the young men’s survey, Los Angeles, 1999–2000. AIDS Educ Prev. 2003;15:39–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Bohl DD, McFarland W, Raymond HF. Improved measures of racial mixing among men who have sex with men using Newman’s assortativity coefficient. Sex Transm Infect. 2011;87:616–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Pettifor AE, Rees HV, Kleinschmidt I, et al. Young people’s sexual health in South Africa: HIV prevalence and sexual behaviors from a nationally representative household survey. AIDS. 2005;19:1525–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kelly RJ, Gray RH, Sewankambo NK, et al. Age differences in sexual partners and risk of HIV-1 infection in rural Uganda. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2003;32:446–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Gregson S, Nyamukapa CA, Garnett GP, et al. Sexual mixing patterns and sex-differentials in teenage exposure to HIV infection in rural Zimbabwe. Lancet. 2002;359:1896–903.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. CDC. Prevalence and awareness of HIV infection among men who have sex with men—21 cities, United States. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2008;2010(59):1201–7.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Joseph HA, Marks G, Belcher L, et al. Older partner selection, sexual risk behaviour and unrecognised HIV infection among black and Latino men who have sex with men. Sex Transm Infect. 2011;87:442–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Mustanski B, Newcomb ME. Older sexual partners may contribute to racial disparities in HIV among young men who have sex with men. J Adolesc Health. 2013;52:666–7.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Shirley MDF, Rushton SP. The impacts of network topology on disease spread. Ecol Complex. 2005;2:287–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Doherty IA, Padian NS, Marlow C, Aral SO. Determinants and consequences of sexual networks as they affect the spread of sexually transmitted infections. J Infect Dis. 2005;191(Suppl 1):S42–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Latkin C, Mandell W, Oziemkowska M, et al. Using social network analysis to study patterns of drug use among urban drug users at high risk for HIV/AIDS. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1995;38:1–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Mustanski B, Newcomb ME, Clerkin EM. Relationship characteristics and sexual risk-taking in young men who have sex with men. Health Psychol. 2011;30:597–605.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Michael Szell RL, Thurnera S. Multirelational organization of large-scale social networks in an online world. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2010;107:13636–13641.

  40. Kyu-Min Lee JYK, Won-kuk Cho, Goh K-I, Kim I-M. Correlated multiplexity and connectivity of multiplex random networks. New J Phys. 2012;14. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/033027

  41. Drumright LN, Frost SD. Rapid social network assessment for predicting HIV and STI risk among men attending bars and clubs in San Diego, California. Sex Transm Infect 2010;86 Suppl 3:iii17–23.

  42. Celentano DD, Valleroy LA, Sifakis F, et al. Associations between substance use and sexual risk among very young men who have sex with men. Sex Transm Dis. 2006;33:265–71.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Koblin BA, Husnik MJ, Colfax G, et al. Risk factors for HIV infection among men who have sex with men. AIDS. 2006;20:731–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Latkin CA, German D, Vlahov D, Galea S. Neighborhoods and HIV: a social ecological approach to prevention and care. Am Psychol. 2013;68:210–24.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Raymond HF, Chen YH, Syme SL, Catalano R, Hutson MA, McFarland W. The role of individual and neighborhood factors: HIV acquisition risk among high-risk populations in San Francisco. AIDS Behav. 2013. 18(4):644.

  46. Chicago Department of Public Health. STI/HIV surveillance report. Chicago: City of Chicago; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Hogan B, Carrasco JA, Wellman B. Visualizing personal networks: working with participant-aided sociograms. Field Methods. 2007;19:116–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Kuhns L, Birkett M, Muth SQ, et al. Methods for collection of participant-aided sociograms for the study of social, sexual and substance-using networks among young men who have sex with men. Connections. 2014 (in press).

  49. Youm Y, Mackesy-Amiti ME, Williams CT, Ouellet LJ. Identifying hidden sexual bridging communities in Chicago. J Urban Health. 2009;86(Suppl 1):107–20.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Wasserman S, Faust K. Social network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press; 1994.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  51. Borgatti SP. Analyzing social networks. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Weeks MR, Clair S, Borgatti SP, Radda K, Schensul JJ. Social networks of drug users in high-risk sites: finding the connections. AIDS Behav. 2002;6:193–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Newman ME. Mixing patterns in networks. Phys. Rev. E. 2003;67:026126.

  54. U.S. Census Bureau. American FactFinder. 2010; http://factfinder.census.gov.

  55. Cohen J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. 2nd ed. Hillsdale: Erlbaum; 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Hurt CB, Matthews DD, Calabria MS, et al. Sex with older partners is associated with primary HIV infection among men who have sex with men in North Carolina. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2010;54:185–90.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Arrington-Sanders R, Leonard L, Brooks D, Celentano D, Ellen J. Older partner selection in young African-American men who have sex with men. J Adolesc Health. 2013;52(6):682–8.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Mustanski B, Birkett M, Greene GJ, Hatzenbuehler ML, Newcomb ME. Envisioning an America without sexual orientation inequities in adolescent health. Am J Public Health. 2014;104:218–25.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Potterat J. Socio-geographic space and focal condom use. Bathesda: Center For Population Research, National Institute of Health; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Maglio PP, Sepulveda M-J, Mabry PL. Mainstreaming modeling and simulation to accelerate public health innovation. Am J Public Health. 2014;104:1181–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Adams J, Moody J, Morris M. Sex, drugs, and race: How behaviors differentially contribute to the sexually transmitted infection risk network structure. Am J Public Health. 2013;103:322-329.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This grant was supported by a Grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (R01DA025548-02S1; PI: Mustanski), which was a competitive revision award to a parent Grant (R01DA025548: Dual PIs: Mustanski and Garofalo). We acknowledge the role of Dr. Robert Garofalo as the dual-PI of the parent grant and thank the participants for their involvement in the study. We thank the Chicago Department of Public Health for providing geographic HIV data.

Conflict of interest

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 625 N Michigan Ave, Suite 2700, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Brian Mustanski & Michelle Birkett

  2. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Lisa M. Kuhns

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Lisa M. Kuhns

  4. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

    Carl A. Latkin

  5. Quintus-Ential Solutions, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Stephen Q. Muth

Authors
  1. Brian Mustanski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michelle Birkett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lisa M. Kuhns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carl A. Latkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen Q. Muth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Mustanski.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mustanski, B., Birkett, M., Kuhns, L.M. et al. The Role of Geographic and Network Factors in Racial Disparities in HIV Among Young Men Who have Sex with Men: An Egocentric Network Study. AIDS Behav 19, 1037–1047 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0955-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0955-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation